Wall Street priced an AI apocalypse in software, but Jim Cramer says reality is less dire

Monday - Friday, 6:00 - 7:00 PM ET Mad Money Wall Street priced an AI apocalypse in software, but Jim Cramer says reality is less dire Published Wed, Feb 25 2026 6:54 PM EST Paulina Likos @paulina_likos WATCH LIVE Key Points CNBC's Jim Cramer said Wall Street's software sell-off is an overreaction, wrongly treating those stocks as if extinction were inevitable. However, the "Mad Money" host cautioned that the stock are unlikely to regain the premium they once commanded. In this article NVDA Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT watch now VIDEO 4:56 04:56 Jim Cramer cuts through the AI market noise Mad Money with Jim Cramer CNBC's Jim Cramer said Wednesday that he believes plenty of software companies will survive the threat of AI disruption, rejecting the most doomsday predictions. Still, he cautioned that investors also shouldn't hold their breathes for a return to the glory days when investors paid major premiums for their stocks. "The software companies are survivors. They can merge. They can adapt. They can do whatever is really necessary to get it so they stay in business," Cramer said Wednesday on "Mad Money," but he added, "they're priced for perfection though and they do seem to have, let's say, kind of a rugby-scrum feel about them — and we don't pay up for scrum." He referenced a blog post published earlier this week by Citrini Research that became the latest catalyst for an AI-related sell-off in software and, to a lesser degree, other sectors. The post examined what the U.S. could look like in 2028 if AI hollowed out white-collar jobs, crushed per-seat software models and triggered a domino effect across private equity and the broader economy. While explicitly called a hypothetical and not a prediction, the Citrini post nevertheless sent shockwaves across Wall Street. Cramer said the market response was overblown. "Yes, Wall Street can overreact better than anyone," he said, arguing the stock market took a legitimate concern (that AI could pres...